Water makes up 85% of the blood, 70% of the muscles, and about 75% of the brain, and is present in and around each one of our cells.

If there were a fountain of youth, it would flow with water – cool, sparkling and life sustaining. Next to oxygen, water is the nutrient most needed for life. You can live without food for about a month, but most people can survive only three or four days without water.

In the body water acts as a solvent, coolant, lubricant and transport agent. It’s needed to regulate body temperature, carry nutrients, remove toxins and waste materials, maintain blood volume and provide the medium in which all cellular chemical reactions take place. Although we won’t shrivel up like a raisin if we dry out (bones and fat help the body keep its shape), without water, our major systems will quickly begin the break down.

The average person should consume about 6 – 8 eight ounce glasses of water or other fluids daily – more in a dry environment, during exercise, in warm weather or when you’re sick.

But you needn’t take your liquids straight: fluid comes in many forms, from tap and bottled water, to food, milk, soft drinks and other beverages.

But then you must compare your form of liquid intake; for example, water versus soda:

WATER:

• 75% of people are chronically dehydrated

• in 37% of people the thirst mechanism is so weak that it is often mistaken for hunger.

• even mild dehydration will slow down one’s metabolism as much as 3%.

• one glass of water will shut down midnight hunger pangs for almost 100% of the dieters studied in a University of Washington study.

• lack of water is the #1 trigger of daytime fatigue.

• preliminary research indicated that 8 – 10 glasses of water a day could significantly ease back and joint pain for up to 80% of sufferers.

• a mere 2% drop in body water can trigger fuzzy short term memory, trouble with basic math, and difficulty focusing on the computer screen or on a printed page.

• drinking 5 glasses of water daily decreases the risk of colon cancer by 45%, plus it can slash the risk of breast cancer by 79%, and one is 50% less likely to develop bladder cancer.

CARBONATED SODA PRODUCTS:

• soda pop is a corrosive substance that can clean a rusted car bumper, dissolve a T-bone steak within two days, clear a clogged toilet, remove grease stains from clothing, and remove corrosion from the terminals of a car battery

• the active ingredient in pop is phosphoric acid. Its pH is 2.8. It will dissolve a nail in about 4 days.

• phosphoric acid also leaches calcium from bones and is a major contributor to the rising increase in osteoporosis.

Now, ask yourself the question: would like a glass of pop, or a glass of water?

As long as you’re healthy, it’s almost impossible to drink too much water. You can’t overwork healthy kidneys, which need water to do their job. And don’t worry about flushing the nutrients out of your body: the nutrients dissolved in water are absorbed in the digestive tract no mater how much you drink, and in fact fiber needs to bind with water on its way out of the body.

Your body thrives on water – every drop of those six to eight glasses a day. So pour yourself a tall glass and drink to your good health. Cheers!